2024-04-16 12:56:56
A year and a half ago, NASA guided an asteroid into a new orbit. According to calculations, its debris could impact a planet.
In September 2022, a probe was directed into the asteroid Dimorphos as part of NASA’s “Dart” mission. It was the first attempt to divert a celestial body from its orbit. The impact not only changed the motion of Dimorphos around its main asteroid Didymos, but deformed it – while numerous huge boulders were thrown into space during the impact.
NASA says these chunks pose no threat to Earth. But they apparently end up on another planet in our solar system, as astronomers have calculated. According to a study, there is a possibility that some of the boulders could collide with Mars.
First approach in about 6,000 years
The researchers from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in the US state of Maryland and NASA’s “Dart” team determined that the debris could be on a collision course with the Red Planet. According to calculations, a first approach to Mars can be expected in around 6,000 years, and the closest approach is expected in around 15,000 years.
Due to the increasingly thin Martian atmosphere, it is to be expected that the parts will not burn up in it, it is said. It can be assumed “that the boulders will arrive on the ground intact and leave a small impact crater.”
Orbit of asteroid moon Dimorphos changed
The US space agency Nasa sent the space probe “Dart” into space in 2022 to specifically collide with the asteroid moon Dimorphos and change its orbit. The probe hurtled into the celestial body at a speed of more than 23,000 kilometers per hour.
It was the first maneuver in space to test the defense against an asteroid threatening the Earth. The aim was to slightly change the orbit of Dimorphos around the asteroid Didymos and to shorten its orbital period from just under twelve hours by up to ten minutes, which, according to initial findings, was successful.
The “Hera” mission of the European Space Agency Esa, which is scheduled to launch this year, is intended to provide a precise evaluation of the impact. In 2026, “Hera” is scheduled to enter an orbit around Didymos and then examine its moon using numerous instruments.